Before enjoying your Thanksgiving meal, a local food inspector wants to remind you that the holiday is also the number one day for food related illnesses. Washington County Food Inspector Jeannine Wolf says this is because people are not used to cooking in large quantities. Wolf says to handle turkey carefully because of the risk for salmonella.

She says to not have any other foods out when handling the raw turkey and to not wash the turkey off. Wolf says cooking the turkey will get rid of any bacteria. She adds to wash the counter tops, utensils and your hands when you are finished preparing the turkey.

Wolf notes the USDA website[1] has very good information on more cooking tips.